how the BLEEP do you take a distributor apart???

i have an electronic 440 dist and i want to change the advance springs. i have a FSM and it doesn't say how to pull the part with the slots. there is a "snap ring" type of wire retainer that is accessed from the top and i can't get it off how do i disassemble to change advance springs or weld up slots. that little clip has me by the short and curlys right now. any tips or tricks?? i had to walk away from it before hurling it across the room

I've always been able to pry the clip out with a needle nosed pliers

so do you just grab one of the prongs and try and pull it out while wiggling or do you spread them open with the pliers. mine just kept slipping off and now i want to smash something.

Clamp the dist w padding securely in your vise vertical & take your long thin needle nose pliers and stick it in there in between the 2 vertical legs and spread them apart. You wont be able to spread them more than a very slight bit but that will be enough. Do it several times. Then grab one of the vertical legs w your pliers and whip it AROUND to it's open side (eyeball to see which way to go) & UP in the same motion. Note which hole the roll pin is in for reassembly. A good idea is to press the center shaft down lightly w your thumb as a helper levers the reluctor up w a pair of screwdrivers opposite of each other and after you get it up some then switch to a pair of tire irons and continue to lever it up (EVENLY). I wash everything w solvent/blow it dry & lube the parts that need to be lubed w silicone lube and the spray on dry lube may be even better. Drive out the roll pin on the bottom shaft/take off the collar and add flat washers until the end play is ALMOST zero. When your back together take the clip and straighten the 2 legs and the circular base as it will be slightly deformed and drop it in on top of the nub and w a pair of mini screwdrivers opposite each other push the circular wire base down over the nub then use your needle nose's to compress the 2 legs together. Same as before you wont move it much but it'll be enough to get at least some of the base circle under the nub which is good enough to secure it. I like to set the reluctor on the shaft barely w your initial set on the balancer and see if using the other (roll pin) will give me better phasing and note that only the vac adv will change the phasing in use (moves it CW on a BB and CCW on a SB). Caveat, always press down on the center shaft anytime you are pulling the reluctor up as some dizzys have enough tolerance that the weights will come off of the pins before you have it apart and you dont want to deal w that.

small needle nose pliers

holy smokes rapid, thanks man i'm going to try that first thing or maybe later tonight. i've said this before but i'll say it again, you really help whenever people have tech questions. thank you,

DONE! thanks again

Robert, you make everything doable and every problem solvable. Thanks as always.

tech archive this thread please.